Economic filtering system for delivery of permission based, targeted, incentivized advertising

ABSTRACT

A method to control advertising messages directed at a user is provided. Such control might include setting a filter to control advertisements directed at a user. Advertisements are sent to a user based on the filter settings. The user may accept the advertisements. If the user accepts the advertisements, the user is provided with a reward. In addition, a method using a quiz to determine if a user is human or an automated respondent is provided. The user is presented with a quiz. The user is advised of the acceptable manner for responding to the quiz. The user&#39;s response to the quiz is received. A determination based on the user&#39;s response as to whether the user is a human or an automated respondent is made.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation In Part (CIP) of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/618,806, filed Jul. 18, 2000, entitled “INTERNETBASED SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PAYING USERS TO VIEW CONTENT ANDRECEIVING MICROPAYMENTS” and hereby claims the priority benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/244,826 filed Oct. 31, 2000,entitled “AN ECONOMIC FILTERING SYSTEM FOR DELIVERY OF PERMISSION BASEDTARGETED, INCENTIVIZED ADVERTISING.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of Internet search enginesand, in particular, to a scheme that allows users of such search enginesto receive individually generated search results based on user profilesand key words.

BACKGROUND

The term “search engine” is generally meant to refer to a server or acollection of servers dedicated to indexing Internet web pages, storingthe results and returning lists of pages that match particular queries(e.g., key word queries). A server is a computer, program or processthat responds to requests for information from a client. On theInternet, all web pages are held on servers. This includes those partsof the search engines and directories that are accessible from theInternet. The indexes themselves are normally generated using spiders. Aspider is that part of a search engine that surfs the web, storing theuniversal resource locators (URLs, i.e., the web addresses) and indexingthe keywords and text of each page it finds. At present, some of themajor search engines are Altavista™, Excite™, Hotbot™, Infoseek™,Lycos™, Northern Light™ and Webcrawler™. Note that the popular siteYahoo™ is technically a directory (a server or a collection of serversdedicated to indexing Internet web pages and returning lists of pageswhich match particular queries—directories, also known as indexes, arenormally compiled manually, by user submission, and often involve aneditorial selection and/or categorization process), not a search engine.The term search engine is nevertheless often used to describe bothdirectories and search engines.

Generally, search engines return results based on key words or searchstrings that are supplied by users. Results are typically found bymatching the key words or search strings with metatags present in thehypertext markup language (HTML) used to encode the web pages of thetarget web sites. Results are also often ranked according to the qualityof the match between the metatags and the search strings. Depending uponthe search algorithms employed by the search engine, the more frequentlya terms is used as a metatag, the more likely it is to be assigned ahigh ranking in the returned results. Owners of web sites thereforeoften repeat metatag terms numerous times (often using common spellingvariations and similar terms) so as to ensure that their respective websites will gain a high ranking when an Internet user executes a search.While this is beneficial for the web site owner (as it is likely aninternet user will tend to select highly ranked results of a search), itis not necessarily beneficial for the user, who may be mislead intoselecting a less than desirable web site by such tactics.

With respect to present advertising systems on the World Wide Web (WWW),they may include a customized advertising repository server connected onthe WWW, which can be accessed by a registered user through his or herbrowser either by clicking on an icon, or by inputting the specific URLaddress of the particular server which stores that user's advertisingrepository. By providing the customized advertising server with personalprofile information the user can control what advertisements will beavailable for the user's viewing and access. However, this only relatesto users visiting a website to view ads. This scheme does not help userscontrol the volume of advertising they receive (e.g. via email,cursor-selectable objects within browser, hyperlink in user browser toadvertisement). Furthermore, this scheme does not help merchants targetusers for receiving advertisements.

Also, in current internet systems, consumers are able to selectadvertising based on subject filters. This allows consumers to receiveonly advertising that pertains to subjects of interest. However, it doesnot allow control of the volume of advertising delivered. Either theconsumer must deal with an uncontrollable volume of advertisements, orthe advertisement deliverer must editorially limit the volume ofadvertisements in ways that may not be suitable to the consumer.Similarly, merchants may target consumers to receive advertising basedon personal profile information submitted by the consumer. The consumersmay further be rewarded for reviewing such advertising. However, onceagain, the user is unable to control the volume of advertisementsdelivered. Furthermore, the merchant is unable to determine if adequaterewards are being offered to the user.

With respect to controlling user access technologies currently existwhereby a user attempting an internet operation may be recognizedthrough a “cookie” previously provided to the user's browser during aprevious interaction, or the user may be recognized through inputting anID previously obtained. However, such schemes do not differentiatebetween automated users and human users. What is needed is a bettermethod of differentiating between automated users and human usersattempting an internet operation (e.g. sweepstakes entry, accessing anadvertisement, creating an email account, etc. . . . ).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a method to control advertising messages directed ata user is provided. Such control might include setting a filter tocontrol advertisements directed at a user. Advertisements are sent to auser based on the filter settings. The user may accept theadvertisements. If the user accepts the advertisements, the user isprovided with a reward.

In another embodiment, a method using a quiz to determine if a user ishuman or an automated respondent is provided. The user is presented witha quiz. The user is advised of the acceptable manner for responding tothe quiz. The user's response to the quiz is received. A determinationbased on the user's response as to whether the user is a human or anautomated respondent is made.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and notlimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network architecture within which embodiments ofthe present invention may operate and be utilized.

FIG. 2 a illustrates an embodiment of a method for controllingadvertising sent to a user and rewarding the user for advertisementsreviewed.

FIG. 2 b illustrates an embodiment of a method for controllingadvertising sent to a user and rewarding the user for advertisementsreviewed.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a method for targeting users toreceive advertisements as part of a rewards program.

FIG. 4 a illustrates an embodiment of a method for determining if a useris a human user or an automated respondent (e.g. quiz).

FIG. 4 b illustrates an embodiment of a method of a quiz presented in anaudio format.

FIG. 4 c illustrates an embodiment of a method of subjecting a user to aquiz question presented in a ransom note audio style.

FIG. 4 d illustrates an embodiment of a method for validating arespondent attempting to access or review an advertisement.

FIG. 5 illustrates a user configuration matrix that may be completed bya user during a registration process in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a user profile matrix that may bedisplayed to a user in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention and which shows available reward points and configurationoptions associated with various user profile information.

FIG. 7 a illustrates a Twisted text recognition quiz, which may beincluded in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 b illustrates a word/image interpretation quiz, which may beincluded in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 c illustrates an embodiment of a quiz described, which may beincluded in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 d illustrates an embodiment of a quiz described, which may beincluded in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 e illustrates an embodiment of a quiz described, which may beincluded in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 f illustrates an embodiment of a quiz described, which may beincluded in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process for determining how frequently a usershould be quizzed in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 illustrates various manners in which bonus information can bedisplayed with banner ads in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 illustrates examples of how the price of certain content may belisted next to links associated therewith in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a process by which users may leavegratuities for content provides in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates examples of user interface features that may beassociated with gratuity sites in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a search result that might be returned after aconventional (i.e., non-demographically sorted) search for travel sites.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a registration sign-in screen inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a user's account balance screen inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a search result returned using theuser's demographic profile information in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a user history report in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a demographic reward matrix inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of various software and/or hardwarelayers of one or more computer systems that may be utilized in providingthe services of the present invention.

FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrates an example of a reward matrix that may beused in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A scheme that allows Internet users to take advantage of theirindividual user profiles in retrieving search results, viewingadvertisements and/or performing other Internet-related activities isdisclosed herein. Some embodiments of the present invention allow usersto earn money, or credits, on-line by visiting certain web sites and/orviewing advertising on particular web sites. Such credits can beredeemed at content sites accessible via the Internet, exchanged formerchant gift certificates or airline miles, used as entries insweepstakes and contests, used as payment for credit card balances,withdrawn as cash, and/or used as gratuities for the content providers.Furthermore, the system may allow users to use standard Web browserssuch as Netscape's Navigator™, available from Netscape Communications,Inc., Mountain View, Calif., or Microsoft's Internet Explorer™,available from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash., and still accessthe features provided by the various embodiments of the invention.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, web site ownersand/or advertisers can target their most desired audiences by settinghigher rewards for specific demographic characteristics and thus“qualify” visitors to their site and/or viewers of their advertising.Further, advertisers can better control web-based advertising costs asdemographically targeted advertising. The architecture of the systemalso allows content providers to assess micro-payments, e.g., smallpayments that may be less than $1.00 per item, for their content orprovide a means for users of their web sites to leave them gratuities.

Some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on datawithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the computerscience arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work toothers skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It has provenconvenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to referto these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms,numbers or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that all ofthese and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriatephysical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to thesequantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it will be appreciatedthat throughout the description of the present invention, use of termssuch as “processing”, “computing, “calculating”, “determining”,“displaying”, “rendering” or the like, refer to the action and processesof a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic)quantities within the computer system's registers and memories intoother data similarly represented as physical quantities within thecomputer system memories or registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices.

Although discussed with reference to certain illustrated embodiments,upon review of this specification, those of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize that the present methods and apparatus may findapplication in a variety of systems. Therefore, in the followingdescription the illustrated embodiments should be regarded as exemplaryonly and should not be deemed to be limiting in scope.

Before describing various aspects of the present invention in detail, itis helpful to present some background relating to the Internet in asmuch as it is expected that several embodiments of the present inventionwill make use of and be deployed over this ever-expanding network ofcomputer networks.

At bottom, the Internet may be regarded as a collection of deviceslinked together by various telecommunications media, enabling thesedevices (e.g., computer systems and the like) to exchange and sharedata, multimedia content and other information. Content sites accessiblethrough the Internet provide information about a myriad of corporationsand products, as well as educational, research and entertainmentinformation and services. Literally millions people worldwide use theInternet on a daily or weekly basis.

A computer or resource that is attached to the Internet is oftenreferred to as a “host.” Examples of such resources include conventionalcomputer systems that are made up of one or more processors, associatedmemory (typically volatile and non-volatile) and other storage devicesand peripherals that allow for connection to the Internet or othernetworks (e.g., modems, network interfaces and the like). The precisehardware configuration of the hosting resource is generally not criticalto the present invention, nor are the precise algorithms used toimplement the services and methods described herein. Instead, the focusis on the nature of the services provided by the hosting resource.

In most cases, the hosting resource may be embodied as hardware and/orsoftware components of a server or other computer system that includesan interface module, which allows for some dialog with a user, and thatmay process information through the submission of Web forms completed bythe user. Generally, such a server will be accessed through the Internet(e.g., via Web browsers) in the conventional fashion. Operating inconjunction with the interface module may be a communication interfacethat supports the distribution of electronic mail (e-mail) messages toor from other Web sites or users.

In order to facilitate communications between hosts, each host has anumerical Internet protocol (IP) address. The IP address is made up offour groups of numbers separated by decimals. For example, the IPaddress of a hypothetical host computer might be 123.124.78.91. Eachhost also has a unique “fully qualified domain name.” The “fullyqualified domain name” may not be repeated in the Internet. In the caseof the hypothetical host 123.456.78.91, the “fully qualified domainname” might be “computer.domain.com”.

In its most generic form, a fully qualified domain name consists ofthree elements. Taking “computer.host.com” as an example, the threeelements are the hostname (“computer”), a domain name (“domain”) and atop-level domain (“com”). A given host looks up the IP addresses ofother hosts on the Internet through a system known as domain nameservice.

Domain name service is accomplished as follows: The Internet is dividedinto several “top level” domains. For example, “.edu” is a domainreserved for educational institutions, “.gov” is a domain reserved forgovernment entities and “.net” is generally reserved for enterprisesoperating within the Internet. Although “.com” is short for“commercial,” it is a catchall domain and is today the most popular onegenerally available to Internet users that have no special attributes,i.e., those that are not a school, a government office or anInternet-based enterprise. Each domain name active in a given top-leveldomain is registered with the top-level server which contains certainhostname and IP address information.

As previously indicated, in order to access the Internet most users relyon computer programs known as “Web browsers.” Commercially available Webbrowsers include such well-known programs as Netscape's Navigator™ andMicrosoft's Internet Explorer™. If an Internet user desires to establisha connection with a Web page hosted at computer.domain.com, the Internetuser might enter into a Web browser program the uniform resource locator(URL) “http:www.domain.com”. The first element of the URL is a transferprotocol (most commonly, “http” standing for hypertext transferprotocol, but others include “mailto” for electronic mail, “ftp” forfile transfer protocol, and “nntp” for network news transfer protocol).The remaining elements of this URL (in this case, “www” standing forWorld Wide Web—the Internet's graphical user interface—and “domain.com”)are an alias for the fully qualified domain name of the hostcomputer.domain.com. Once a URL is entered into the browser, thecorresponding IP address is looked up in a process facilitated by atop-level server. In other words, all queries for addresses are routedto certain computers, the so-called top-level servers. The top-levelserver matches the domain name to an IP address of a domain name servercapable of directing the inquiry to the computer hosting the Web page.Thus, domain name service ultimately matches an alphanumeric name suchas www.domain.com with its numeric IP address 123.456.78.91.Registration of domain names is currently handled by a variety oforganizations.

A domain name server is a host computer with software capable ofresponding to domain name inquiries and accessible on a full-time basisto other computers on the Internet. Registering a domain name is thestep that allows the top-level servers within the Internet to know wherethe domain name servers or hosts associated with those domain names arelocated in the Internet. Domain name service can be operated by thedomain name holder or obtained from any entity with the proper computerequipment, including hundreds of Internet service providers (ISPs).

One way to establish a presence on the Internet is by placing a Webpage, which is, ultimately, a computer data file on a host operating aWeb server within a given domain name. When the Web server receives aninquiry from the Internet, it returns the Web page data in the file tothe computer making the inquiry. The Web page may be a single line ormultiple pages of information and may include any message, name, word,sound or picture, or combination of such elements. Most Web browserswill show somewhere on the screen the domain name of the Web page beingshown and will automatically include the domain name in any printout ofthe Web page. There is no technical connection or relationship between adomain name and the contents of the corresponding Web page.

There are a number of ways for an Internet user to find a Web page. Webbrowsers feature access to various indexes, commonly referred to assearch engines. These indexes will allow the user to enter a name or aword or a combination of words, and will return the results of thesearch as a list of “hyperlinks” to Web pages that have informationwithin or associated with the document making up the page responding tothe search.

A hyperlink is a link from one site on the Internet to a second site onthe Internet. “Clicking” (or, more generally, selecting using a cursorcontrol device such as a mouse, joystick, touch pad, etc.) on adesignated space on the initial site which references the subsequentsite by a picture, highlighted text or some other indication will directthe user's browser from the initial site to the second site. In additionto their use in indexes, hyperlinks are commonly placed on Web pages,thus allowing Internet users to move from Web page to Web page at theclick of a button, without having to type in URLs. Hyperlinks are alsoused to initiate the transfer of files or other information from thehosting resource to the user's computer in a process commonly known asdownloading.

Hyperlinks can be and commonly are established without reference to thedomain name of the second site. A hyperlink is not technically relatedto a domain name and therefore it can be identical to an existing domainname without conflicting with that domain name. For example, were theoperator of a Web page known as SITE to establish a home page at http:www.xyz.com, any number of indexes could be employed and hyperlinkscould be established to bring up the page through use of the word SITE.

Some Web pages are referred to as Web forms. In general, a form is acollection of form fields displayed as a Web page by a browser inresponse to hypertext mark-up language (HTML) tags and other informationreceived from a Web server. An associated form handler resides at theserver to collect and process the information submitted by a user viathe form. By using such forms, an information collection processperformed by a host is made interactive with the users thereof. That is,users can add text to text boxes, select from drop down menus and/orselect check boxes and/or radio buttons, etc. Typically, the usersubmits the form by clicking on a submit button or other appropriatelylabeled element of the form and, upon such submission, the contents ofthe form are passed to the form in handler. Depending upon the type ofinformation being submitted and the type of form handler being used, theinformation submitted by a user may be appended to a file maintained bythe host, for example a file associated with a temporary accountassigned to the user or a larger database. In this way information maybe collected, processed and displayed to those who access it.

A text box is a standard form field into which a user can type text.When a form containing a text box is submitted in a Web browser, thename and contents of the text box are provided to the form handlerrunning on the server. A check box field is typically arranged in a gridor matrix fashion with one or more cells of the matrix including a checkbox. Check box fields present a user with choices that can be made byclicking (e.g., selecting or deselecting as appropriate) a check box.Such fields are created and rendered using programming techniques commonin the art and any number (including all or none) of individual checkboxes may be selected or not. When a user submits a form containing acheck box field, the name of each check box along with its value isprovided to the form handler at the host. Radio button fields present auser with a choice that can be made by selecting a button. Radio buttonsare displayed in a set, only one of which may be selected at a time.When radio button fields are created, they are assigned a group name,and each button in the group is assigned a value and an initial state(selected or not selected). When the user selects one of the buttons inthe field, all other buttons in the field take on a value of notselected. Then, when the user submits the form, the group name and valueof the buttons is provided to the corresponding form handler at theserver for processing.

With the above background, aspects of the present invention may now bedescribed. In general, the present invention may be regarded as aservice that allows users (preferably registered users) thereof to earnand/or redeem credits on-line in exchange for sharing their personal ordemographic information. Thus, users of the system (which may beregarded as a hosted environment embodied as computer readableinstructions residing in computer-readable media associated with acomputer system attached to/accessible through the Internet) are askedto provide demographic information which may be used to customizeadvertisements displayed to the user and/or search results from searchqueries posed by the user. In exchange for this information, the usersreceive credits which they can later redeem in various fashions asdescribed below. To the users, the process is very similar to thecustomary actions they may be accustomed to in interacting with othersearch engine sites and/or web portals, with the exception that the useof rich demographic profiles allows for certain customizations that arenot provided by other Internet-based services and systems. In addition,the present system offers unique features such as “quizzes” which can beused to validate a third party. These and other features will bediscussed below.

A. System Architecture

A basic system architecture within which embodiments of the presentinvention may operate and be utilized is shown in FIG. 1. Users 100 a-care coupled in communication with a network 102. The network 102 mightbe the Internet, or some other type of computer network (e.g., a localor wide area network or a metropolitan area network) or network ofnetworks. Through the network 102, the users 100 a-c can access contentsources 108 a-c. For example, the content sources 108 a-c might includeservers and/or proxies hosting Web sites for entertainment, commercialenterprises, research journals, newspapers, and/or some other type ofactivity, business or interest. Advertisers, such as advertisers 106a-c, are entities that wish to place advertising and/or draw visitors totheir sites. Some of the advertisers 106 a-c may also be contentproviders. For example, a company such as Netscape™ might both advertiseits portal service as well as provide content.

Host 104 is configured in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention and may also support the transaction or micro-payment systemdescribed below. As part of its operation, host 104 stores informationabout user accounts, e.g., for the users 100 a-c. Host 104 may alsoprovide advertisers 106 a-c means to receive payment for qualifiedviewers, e.g., those meeting certain pre-established demographiccriteria. Also, the host 104 may provide content providers means toreceive payments for goods and services they offer either through a“pay-per-view” fee or a tipping (gratuity) scheme. For example, acontent provider associated with content source 108 a might offer accessto a scientific journal hosted at that content source at for$0.50/article (or some other pay-per-use fee). Alternatively, thecontent provider might provide a hyperlink to a Web site (e.g., hostedby host 104) that allows users to provide a gratuity (e.g., so as toexpress their appreciation for a particular story or column). Thus, thehost 104 acts as a transaction mediator for this system. The host 104may be made up of one or more computers, a cluster of computers, a webor server farm, and/or some other configuration of one or morecomputers.

The remainder of the discussion below will assume that the networkconfiguration shown in FIG. 1 is used. Accordingly, embodiments of theinvention (which may be computer software, hardware and/or combinationsof both) are discussed as being hosted/provided by or from the host 104,although advertising content and hyperlinks to other reward-offeringsites may be provided by other sources. In some cases the network 102may be associated with multiple hosts 104 supporting embodiments of theinvention. Depending on contractual arrangements between providers,credits earned on one system may or may not be valid on another. Aspectsof the present invention will be described according to several systemsand features as follows. Initially, user interface portions of thesystem will be described including process for registering with thehosting provider; searching for relevant web-sites, URLs or links;reading ads; tipping; bonuses; and other user portions. Subsequently,portions of the advertiser systems and features will be described;followed by a discussion of content provider systems and features.

User Systems and Features

Some embodiments of the present system offer a number of differentfeatures to support users thereof. The customer registration processwill be described first, and then the ad viewing and searching processeswill be described. Next, several additional features of the presentsystem, such as merchant feedback and quality control processes,sweepstakes events, trading posts, the tipping process, the contentconsumption process and the bonus process will be described.

The invention provides, in various embodiments, a search engine returnsresults according to a ranking that is established according touser-supplied demographic information. In these and/or other cases,advertisements may be presented to users based on such demographicinformation. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention offeruser registration processes so that users might build rich profiles ofthemselves, allowing for customized search results to be returned by thesearch engine each time a search query is executed and/or to providecustomized advertisement viewing. To enhance such features, embodimentsof this scheme allow users to “sign up” (i.e., register and create aprofile) quickly and easily (e.g., by completing one or more Web formsor similar data entry/collection devices). Some embodiments of thepresent scheme only require that a user select a username and a password(as is common in the Internet environment). This allows the registrationprocess to be completed very quickly. Further, users that haveregistered via this quick start procedure can return at a later time toprovide a more detailed registration profile and thus take advantage ofthe demographically-targeted search/ad presentation processes describedherein. In some embodiments, users may be encouraged to provide theserich profiles by the promise of earning rewards (see below), among otherfeatures.

The basic registration process may be described as follows: New usersmay by referred to a service provider's Web site (e.g., hosted by host104) offering a service configured in accordance with the presentinvention and encouraged to “sign up”, e.g., by information displayed ata content provider's Web site, various advertising for the service, theservice provider's home page, and/or some other source.

Before being allowed to register, these new users may be asked to answerone or more questions of a quiz to test whether they are a human usersor not (see the discussion of such Quizzes below). As indicated above,spiders are automated computer processes that are capable of searchingthe Web and retrieving Web page information. Variations of spiders knownas robots or bots have been created that might allow for completion of asimple web form or other registration instrument, and thereby garner anyrewards associated therewith, without having to subject a human user tothis process. To avoid abuses of the present system, quizzes may beintroduced at various levels to thwart such automated processes andallow access only by live, human users.

When the new user arrives at a Web site associated with the presentservice, basic registration information is requested, such as a usernameand a password. This form of registration process is commonly used inthe Internet environment to track users and allow for personalization ofcontent to be displayed when the user returns to the subject Web site.In addition, the user may be invited to complete a more detailedregistration card (really a Web form) that solicits more personalinformation about the user. In this way, the hosting service can build arich user profile that will be useful when the user executes searchesusing a search engine associated with the present service and/or indetermining which advertisements to present to the user.

Some embodiments of the present invention may include one or moresponsor advertisements in a registration window (e.g., a pop-up windowthat is rendered by the user's browser upon his or her first visit tothe subject Web site). This advertisement may be associated with aservice that rewards the new user for viewing the advertisement, and mayalso offer additional rewards for selecting (e.g., clicking through) onthe advertisement, which may be rendered as a banner ad as is common inthe art.

Some embodiments of the present invention allow a new user to earnadditional credits or rewards by answering basic profile questions. Asindicated above, answers to these profile questions may be used to buildrich profiles that may be provided (perhaps for a fee) to third parties(e.g., advertisers) and/or used to provide customized responses tosearch queries.

Some embodiments of the present invention may allow a user to state apreference for viewing hyperlinks as URLs, text links, expanded textlinks or graphical banners. Responses to such inquiries may be used tofurther customize any returned search results.

In addition to usernames, passwords (or other personal identifier(s))and demographic questions, a user may be provided with the ability toshare certain elements of his/her system usage history to earn greaterrewards. For example, the operator of a Web site devoted to travel maypredict that a user who has had account activity every day for the pastsix months has not had a vacation in that time and subsequently chooseto target such users aggressively. For those users that have opted toshare such usage history, the travel site operator may provide generousrewards in exchange for this information. Users can selectively chooseto provide such information, knowing that as a result they will besharing what some might consider to be very personal information abouttheir on-line habits. The benefit of sharing this information is theprospect of more appropriately targeted search results and/or greaterrewards from merchants interested in such data.

The user may selectively offer to share elements of their on-lineactivity, for example, sharing that activity has occurred, but not thespecifics of the activity; or sharing the knowledge that the user hasearned rewards, but not disclosing the specific sites from which theywere earned.

Some embodiments of the present invention may involve sending (e.g., bye-mail or surface mail or other delivery mechanism) a password to thenew user. Similar to the quiz arrangement described herein, providing apassword in this manner tends to ensure that only a live person (and notan automated computer process) will be able to respond correctly. Forexample, a message to the user indicating that, “Your password is theword that (is not an animal, or does not have a # in it) or is presentedin a graphic” might be sent via e-mail in response to the usercompleting the registration process. If a user's e-mail viewer is notHTML-enabled (and so may be incapable of rendering an image), analternative link a web site at which the image (in the case where thepassword is identified in an image as opposed to simply a text message)can be viewed may be offered.

Some embodiments of the present invention may involve automaticallyconveying additional information about the user, once the user has optedin, such as geographic location, local time, local current weatherand/or the current activity of the user based on their electroniccalendar (working, on vacation, off work, etc.).

Some embodiments of the present system may involve discovering, with theuser's permission, what commerce sites that user has been a customer of.Some embodiments of the present system may involve asking the user whichsite they came/were referred from and which Internet site is theirfavorite.

After creating the new user's account, a cookie may be placed on theuser's computer system with the user's account information to enableautomatic login for future sessions. A cookie is a general mechanismthat server-side connections (such as common gateway interface scripts)can use to both store and retrieve information on the client-side of theconnection. The addition of such a simple, persistent, client-side statesignificantly extends the capabilities of Web-based client/serverapplications.

Some embodiments of the present system may involve asking the user fortheir business demographic profile attributes such as the size of theuser's company, nature of that business, its industry, the user'sposition/title in the company, his/her purchase authority, his/herbusiness contact information, etc.

Some embodiments of the present invention include an Internet serviceconfigured to control advertising messages directed at a user. Suchcontrol includes setting a filter to control advertisements directed ata user. Advertisements are sent to a user based on the filter settings.The user may accept the advertisements. If the user accepts theadvertisements, the user is provided with a reward.

Some embodiments of the present invention include a method for a thirdparty to select registered users from an internet service to receiveadvertisements from the third party. The method includes retrieving userprofiles. The method further includes comparing user profiles withcriteria defined by the third party. The method further includes sendingmessages to users matching the third party's criteria.

Depending on where the user was referred from the user may, at theconclusion of the registration process, be directed to an appropriatelocation (e.g., returned to the referring site or to another siterelated thereto). For example, if the user was referred from a contentsite, he/she may be redirected back to that site. Alternatively, theuser might be presented with an ad browser to allow the user to viewmore advertisements and/or Web sites at which he/she can earn/redeemcredits.

Registered Users Logging-in

When a registered user arrives at a Web site offering the presentservice, the system checks for the presence of a cookie such as thatdescribed above. If a cookie is present, the user may be automaticallylogged on; although, the user's password may be requested to verifyhis/her identity. If a cookie is not present, the user is asked to login. The registration cookie can be a permanent cookie or session cookieaccording to the user's preferences. Such log in practices forregistered users are customary in the Internet services arts and neednot be described further herein.

Once a user logs in and/or when the user visits his/her account balancepage, the user may be shown his/her current account balance (e.g., interms of accumulated credits) either in a pop up window or in a fixedposition of one or more Web pages. Such information may be renderedusing active server page and/or Java™ technology common in the Internetarts. The login page may also provide the ability to allow a new user tolog in and replace a previous user on the system.

Follow-Up Registrations

Registered users can return to their account at their convenience andupdate their profile information to reflect current information aboutthe user and/or to provide additional information for which the usermight receive higher bonus rewards and/or to update the user's contactinformation.

Users can complete each field of a web form in to fill out theirdemographic profile by one or more of the following processes:Entering/selecting a field of the web form and accepting a defaultoption of always sharing the specified information for demographicrewards and/or transferring the field value to an advertiser. Suchitems/values will always be submitted and the bonuses associated withthe submission of such information will be received automatically. Forexample, a user may always want to reveal that he/she lives in aparticular city and collect rewards associated with the release of thatinformation. Entering requested information in a field of the web formand selecting a “submit on approval” option. By selecting this option,the user can decide on a case-by-case basis whether he or she wants toshare the associated information for demographic targeting or the actualvalue of their profile. For example, a user may be willing to revealthat he/she lives in a group of zip codes (or even his/her actual zipcode) to some web site operators/advertisers, but not to others. Leavinga field blank. For example, a user may never want to share informationsuch as his/her e-mail or physical address.

Users can customize their automatic registration process by settingtheir local cookie duration to permanent, timed, or per session, as iscommon in the Internet arts.

Users can add to their account balance by attaching a credit or debitcard to their account. That is, users may be permitted to add on-linecredits by purchasing them using a credit or debit card. This allowsusers to make on-line purchases of goods, services or informationwithout having to earn the credits by using other features of therewards scheme described herein.

User account balances may be withdrawn. That is, credits earned on-linemay be exchanged for monetary credit in the form of a check or creditposted to a credit card, etc. In some cases, credit may be issued bydirect deposit to a user's bank account or other account (e.g., a moneymarket fund or other account). If appropriate, time restrictions, amountrestrictions, and/or a service fee may be charged for this service(e.g., the withdrawals may be limited to a certain monthly amount).

User account balances may be capped to encourage online spending. Thecap may be increased on a per-user basis, based on that user's usage oftheir account over time. For example, a cap of $20 (or the equivalentnumber of on-line credits if credits are measured in units other thandollars) might be set, however a particular user might have a higher capof, say $100 or some other amount, based on his/her past (frequent)usage. Caps may also be reduced, if appropriate.

Users can view their account balance and history. For each transaction,the content provider or advertiser Web site, transaction amount, time,resulting balance and/or other desired fields might be shown. (See,e.g., FIG. 17, which shows an example of a user history report 1702.)

Users may be permitted to access tools to evaluate site activity withrespect to demographics, activity over time, responses to price changesand discounts.

The invention provides in various embodiments, an internet service andmethod which employs economic means for filtering that allows theconsumer much more flexibility in controlling advertisement flow.Consumers are those who receive the advertising discussed.

Consumer Registration

As explained above, in an exemplary embodiment of the invention, theuser creates a user profile. FIG. 2 a illustrates an embodiment of amethod for controlling advertising sent to a user and rewarding the userfor advertisements reviewed. In one embodiment of the invention, afilter is set 201 a to control advertisements directed to a user. Theuser will receive 202 b advertisements based on the filter setting, atthe user's personal device. The user may accept 203 b the advertisement.Upon accepting the advertisement the user is provided 204 b with areward.

Referring to FIG. 2 b, illustrates an embodiment of a method forcontrolling advertising sent to a user and rewarding the user foradvertisements reviewed. A user signs in 201 b to an internet serviceconfigured to control advertising messages. The user may need toregister with the internet service before signing in. The sign inprocess may require a user ID and password. After signing in a check 202b is made to determine if a profile exists for the user. The usercreates 203 b a user profile after the initial registration with theinterne service. For basic registration, the consumer will providepersonal demographic information, and subjects of interest along withthe corresponding bid thresholds. The consumer selects areas of interestfrom a list, or enters a topic directly. The list is used to controladvertisements sent to the consumer. The list can be in outline format,allowing the consumer to select either wide or narrow areas of interest.For example, a consumer selecting “Food” would receive alladvertisements pertaining to that category. However, a consumerselecting a deeper, more narrow topic such as “Italian Food in my hometown” would receive advertisements of a much more focused nature.

To further narrow the filter, the consumer also provides personaldemographic information. This demographic profile may include bothstatic and dynamic attributes. Static attributes are items such asgender, income, profession and family status. Dynamic attributes aresuch items as location, local time, whether the consumer is on work orpersonal time, local weather. The consumer can also agree to allow theirbehavior to be monitored in various ways in order to better target theirinterests. The consumer may be compensated for agreeing to allow this.

Also, the consumer may set a reward threshold in cash, minutes, or someother unit of reward currency. The threshold is essentially a bid forthe interruption of the advertisement. Any merchant willing to meet thatbid threshold will pay the bid to the consumer in exchange for sendingthe advertisement.

For example, a consumer sets his threshold for “Food” at $1.00 will onlyreceive advertisements from merchants willing to pay $1.00 for theconsumers attention. The bid threshold may also be set to “none” in thecase where the consumer never wants to receive an advertisement on thattopic. The consumer can balance his interest in the subject with thecost of the interruption.

Several other dimensions may be used for the consumer to finelycustomize the manner in which they agree to receive advertisements. Theconsumer can adjust the bid threshold for time of day, even excludingcertain times of day. With location information, delivery can beadjusted to comprehend the users local time, so ads meant to be sent at5 PM will be sent at 5 PM local time.

The consumer can adjust the bid threshold for different media in whichthe advertisement is delivered such as plain text, recorded voice, livevoice, graphics, streaming video, live streaming video.

The consumer can adjust the bid threshold for different manners ofinterruption. For example, No alert, the consumer has to visit a webpageto see waiting advertisements. A further example would be a visual alertwhereby a visual cue that advertisements are waiting is presented to theconsumer. In a further example, an audible alert is presented in whichthe consumer can hear an audio or tactile alert indicating thatadvertisements are waiting. In another example a Phone call where thedevice alerts the consumer to advertisements as if a live person werecalling.

In addition to these dimensions, the consumer may adjust the bidthreshold depending on the length of the incoming advertisement. Alonger advertisement may warrant a higher bid. The consumer may set aflat rate for advertisements ($x per ad), a scaled rate ($y per minute),or fixed plus scaled ($x per ad plus $y per minute).

The display of pending ads may indicate the length of each ad in termsof bytes, minutes, screens, and keystrokes required to complete.

The consumer may set different bid thresholds depending on which of hispersonal devices he is using. For example, a consumer using a highbandwidth device may be more willing to receive long messages than whenusing his text pager.

The consumer may also set different bid thresholds based on themerchant, as well as excluding certain merchants from ever sendingadvertisements. The consumer may also request inclusion for any ad sentby a particular merchant above a certain bid level regardless of topic.

The consumer may also set the number of advertisements allowed to besent in a given time window. For example, no more than five ads per dayor up to three ads in the morning and up to two ads in the afternoon.

As consumers set up their account, the account guide will indicate tothem the number of expected ads they will receive for the bid thresholdsthey set. In this way, the consumer can set the bid threshold based onthe number of ads desired.

Once the consumer sets the initial bid threshold, each deeper detail ofthe bid threshold may be set by default value by the system. Forexample, full bid price for a phone call advertisement, 50% of the fullbid for a voice message and 25% of the full bid for a text message.Advertisement.

Bids may be set in cash currency or other reward tokens such as deviceminutes. The consumer on impulse may also pull an advertisement on anysubject at any time without being compensated. In this case, the carriermay charge the merchant the merchant's full bid or a fixed rate.

Returning to FIG. 2 b, a registered user may be asked 204 b whether theywould like to update 205 b their profile. An internet service mayanalyze 206 b the filter criteria in the user's profile. The internetservice provides 207 b third party advertisements to the user based onthe filter criteria. The user may choose to review or access theadvertisements. The internet service makes a determination 208 b as towhether the user reviewed the advertisement. In one embodiment, the userselection of a cursor selectable object is evidence that the user hasreviewed the advertisement. In an alternate embodiment, the user openingan email message is evidence that the user has reviewed theadvertisement.

A user who reviews an advertisement is provided 209 b with a reward(e.g. cash) and the balance in the user's reward account is updated. Theuser may redeem 210 b the user rewards. If the user redeems userrewards, the user's rewards account balance is updated.

In one embodiment, the consumer may have the ability to receiveadvertisements or purge them unread at any time. The consumer is onlypaid if the ads are received. In an exemplary embodiment, when aconsumer sets the bid threshold, the consumer will be able to see anestimate of the number of advertisements that will be sent at thatlevel.

Merchant Component

In current systems, merchants wishing to deliver advertising selecttheir target audience and then depend on the ad deliverer. The addeliverer may either send the ads freely, frustrating consumers with toomany advertisements, or dilute delivery editorially. The embodimentdescribed allows merchants to directly target individual consumers in amanner that guarantees that the consumer will be amenable to receivingthe ad and there will be no missed targets. Merchants pay only forconsumers who receive the advertisements.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a method for targeting users toreceive advertisements as part of a rewards program. Merchants mayexamine 301 user profiles to determine target recipients of theiradvertisements. The filter criteria from the user profiles are compared302 with the type of recipients the third party (e.g. merchant) wishesto send advertisements. Merchants select 303 the target recipient oftheir advertising from the profile and interest matrix and then bid forthe attention of those consumers. The bid level is ‘up to’ such that ifa merchant bids $1.00, but consumers only request $0.50, the merchantonly is charged $0.50 for that ad.

Merchants can also specify to send ads only to consumers who's interestlevel is above a threshold. For example, bid up to $1.00, but send onlyto consumers who's bid threshold is at least $0.75.

When consumers place a limit on the number of ads allowed per timewindow, the top n merchants based on their full bid will be sent. Theconsumer collects the full up to' bid. Merchants will have the controlover joining this full bid competition with a toggle switch.

If the number of merchants willing to pay full bid to be a ‘top n’ addelivered is lower than the number the consumer has allowed, then thoseconsumers will be placed in priority based on the size of theirSmartPenny account and will pay what the consumer has set as threshold.

Once the merchant enters a bid level, the system will be able to predictan estimate of number of advertisements that will be sent at that level.

Constraints on Automated Usage

Computer systems configured in accordance with the present invention maylimit or restrict the number of users which are allowed access from aparticular computer or terminal based upon a certain number of cookiesor Java applets installed on the user's computer or terminal. Suchsystems may also constrain automated access by allowing a limited numberof users access from computers or other web-capable devices associatedwith certain unique identifiers such as a medium access control (MAC)addresses, IP addresses, or central processing unit (CPU) serialnumbers.

Quizzes

The invention provides in various embodiments, a method of implementingQuizzes may be used as part of a process to verify that a user is ahuman, as opposed to an automated process (e.g., a bot or robot).Because users are paid per ad and/or site viewed, an automated systemwould be able to earn money or credits without the desired humanactually viewing the advertising or visiting the site. Accordingly, someembodiments of the present invention make use of periodic quizzes, alsocalled a SmartQuiz™, to verify that a particular user is a human. Asnoted above, these quizzes may be employed during the registrationprocess to verify that a user is a human. Additionally, such quizzes canbe used in conjunction with follow up registrations, and/or betweentransactions using some embodiments of the invention.

The basic premise is to design a quiz (or question) using a format thatcannot be easily recognized or read by a machine or automated process.For example, text that is embedded in graphical representations such asan image could be used. The pictures can contain a simple question thatany user would be expected to be able to answer. For example, thepicture or other image form might have the text “123” drawn therein, andthe quiz question might read, “What number is shown?” A separate textbox or other data entry device rendered in the web page with the quizquestion image could then be used by the user to enter his/her answer.

Because automated entities are not able to decipher the question (ormore particularly, the answer to the question) from the image, suchprocesses will not be able to respond correctly to the question. Incontrast, because of the intentionally simple nature of the questions,almost any human could provide the correct answer. The object here isnot to test the skill or knowledge of the user per se (although suchtests could be used if appropriate to a given situation), but rather toensure that some human being (and not just another computer system) isactually viewing the pages/ads being rendered. This way, advertisers areprovided with some assurance that their advertising dollars are notbeing wasted.

The answers to the quiz questions may be provided using a text-input boxlocated anywhere on the Web page containing the quiz image. Formultiple-choice questions, the answers might be selectable from theimage itself, e.g., using an image map, and/or through an HTML formsurrounding the picture.

As stated, the question format is designed and optimized such that itwill be difficult or impossible for automated entities to correctlyrespond and comparatively easy for human to correctly respond. Questionmay be given in any manner such as by text, audio, text, graphicalimages, tactile, olfactory and taste or in any manner that addresses anyof the users five senses.

FIG. 4 a illustrates an embodiment of a method for determining if a useris a human user or an automated respondent (e.g. quiz). A request isreceived 401 a from a user requesting access to an online area (e.g.register with ad rewards program, sweepstakes, create an email account,etc. . . . ). In order to determine if the user is a human respondent orautomated respondent, a quiz and acceptable manner of response areprovided 402 a. A determination 403 a is made as to whether the userresponded within the default time. If the user does not respond withinthe default time the quiz is ended 404 a and the user is not verified asa human respondent. If the user does respond within the default time adetermination 405 a is made as to whether the user responded correctly.A correct response by a user to the quiz will validate 406 a the user asa human respondent.

In one embodiment, the quizzes may include various formats of Audioquestions. In one exemplary embodiment, quiz questions may be given overa background of other voices speaking such that to a human it will beclear what the question is. For example, a person speaking in a loudroom, either quietly, loudly or moderately.

In a further exemplary embodiment, question may be given by the voicewhich is distinctive from the others in a way specified. For example,text or voice will instruct “Answer the question given by the singingvoice.” or the happy voice, or the soft voice, or the female voice, orthe old voice, or the young voice, or the out of breath voice, or thelaughing voice, or the voice shouting from far away, or James Earl Jonesimpersonators voice. From a mix of overlapping voices, that voice'squestion will be selectable by a human.

In another embodiment, quiz questions can also be asked regardingattributes of the audio. For example, “Is the voice male or female?” “Isthe voice speaking sensible English?” “Is the voice old or young?” “Isthe voice loud or soft?” “Is the voice happy or sad?” “Is the voicesinging well or poorly?” “Is the voice being funny or serious?” “Is thevoice angry or happy?” “What song is the voice singing?” Simpletrue/false questions can be delivered by the person speaking. Forexample, a little girl asking, “Am I an old man?” a crying girl asking,“Do I sound happy to you?”

FIG. 4 b illustrates an embodiment of a method of a quiz presented in anaudio format. In one embodiment, the user is presented 401 b a quiz inan audio format (e.g. delivering the live or recorded voice of a personthrough a user's sound system). The user is asked 402 b to identify anattribute of the audio format (e.g. gender). A determination 403 b ismade as to whether the user responded within the default time. If theuser does not respond within the default time the quiz is ended 404 band the user is not verified as a human respondent. If the user doesrespond within the default time a determination 405 b is made as towhether the user responded correctly. If the user does not respondwithin the default time the quiz is ended 406 b and the user is notverified as a human respondent. A correct response by a user to the quizwill validate 407 b the user as a human respondent.

In another alternate embodiment, quiz questions can be presented in aransom note audio style. Ransom note audio style includes differentpeople will speak single words in cadence. One will speak a meaningfulword in the question while the others say some buffer word. For example:

Person1: “Banana Type Banana Banana HAPPY Banana”

Person2: “Please Banana Banana Word Banana Banana”

Person3: “Banana Banana The Banana Banana Banana”

FIG. 4 c illustrates an embodiment of a method for subjecting a user toa quiz question presented in a ransom note audio style. An online system(e.g. sweepstakes) receives 401 c a request from a user seeking access(e.g. user entry in sweepstakes, reading an advertisement, creating anemail account, etc. . . . ). In order to access the online system, theuser is advised 402 c that they must take a quiz in which the user willneed to differentiate meaningful words from buffer words where differentwords are spoken in cadence. The user will need to combine 403 c themeaningful words into the quiz question being asked. The user isprovided 404 c with the ransom audio quiz (e.g. different words spokenin cadence where the words are delivered in an audio format to theuser). A determination 405 c is made as to whether the user responded tothe quiz within the default time for response. If the user does notrespond within the default time, the quiz is ended 406 c and the user isnot verified as a human user. If the user responds with the defaulttime, a determination 407 c is made as to whether the user respondedcorrectly to the quiz. If the user does not respond correctly to thequiz the user is not 406 c is not verified as a human user. If the userdoes respond correctly the user passes 408 c the quiz and is validatedas a human user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the quizzes may include variousformats of Audio questions requiring a user to use one of their fivesenses (e.g. taste, smell, touch). A smell or taste can be generated bythe system and the user will speak or select from images or key in theanswer to a question regarding that smell. For example, “Is the smellpleasant or unpleasant?” “Does the taste match more with that of freshbread or an ice cube?”

In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, question may be given viavideo using combinations of sounds and images to ask the question. Forexample, a person in the video may ask the user to enter the wordwritten on the wall behind her when there are other words writtenelsewhere in the picture. Several persons in the video may be speakingat once, some of whom are speaking grammatically correct but nonsensicalEnglish, and others speaking other languages, but all at the same volumelevel. A video with two people and a sign may have one person speakinginstructions while a second person instructs the user to ignore thefirst person and follow the instructions on the sign.

Questions may be given that ask the nature of the scene described in theimage, video, audio, olfactory, tactile or taste medium. For example,certain engine sounds and smells could identify a bus stop.Distinguishable familiar events such as a baseball game, a wedding, ataxi ride, eating a meal, grocery shopping, answering computerquestionnaires or updating patent applications can be presented andquestioned. For example, “Are the Yankees ahead or behind?” “Are thedogs barking?” “Are they eating steak or fruit?” “Is the wedding largeor small?” “Is the baby awake or asleep?” “Is this New York or LosGatos?” “Is it raining or snowing?”

In one embodiment of the invention, answers may be conveyed by keyboardor graphical interaction such as a mouse, audio response, or video.Answers will be designed such that humans will quickly and easily beable to respond while automated entities will have comparativedifficulty responding.

In another embodiment, the quiz process may be integrated intoadvertising. For example, a text, image, audio, video, olfactory ortaste based advertisement could be presented and then a question askedregarding the advertisement. “Which new car makes you heart go‘a-thumpa-thumpa-thumpa!’?”

In a further embodiment, a quiz is used to determine if a humanrespondent or an automated respondent is attempting to access or reviewan advertisement. FIG. 4 d illustrates an embodiment of a method forvalidating a respondent attempting to access or review an advertisement.A user attempts 401 d to access an advertising message (e.g. user pointsand clicks a graphical image). In response to the user's attempt toaccess an advertising message, the user is presented 402 d with a quizto determine if the user is human or an automated respondent. The usermay abandon 403 d the attempt to access the advertisement or respond tothe quiz. A determination 404 d is made as to whether the user respondedwithin the default time. If the user does not respond within the defaulttime the quiz is ended 405 d and the user is not verified as a humanrespondent. If the user does respond within the default time adetermination 406 d is made as to whether the user responded correctly.A correct response by a user to the quiz will validate 407 d the user asa human respondent.

All questions and answers may be tailored based on a users profile. Forexample, a different national anthem could be played for users indifferent countries. A poorly drawn map of the users location can bepresented and ask the user to click on where they live. For example aSan Francisco resident would be presented a map of the US that isrectangular and random contiguous shapes everywhere except for a closeto proportional California, which he clicks on as his location. As theusers intimate tastes are better known, the question can be which musicclip is his favorite (Ozzy Osbourne or Lawrence Welk) or “Who is better,Kirk or Piccard?” In another example, based on the users profile, asimple questions such as “What is your gender?” might be asked. Inresponse the user would select from a graphical list of words, amongwhich will be “male” and “female”.

Therefore, the quiz process is an authentication process that may beused in any application to distinguish between human and automatedrespondents such as any form of registration, login, commercialtransactions, contest entry, voting, communication or electronicsignature.

FIGS. 7 a-7 f illustrate various types of quizzes, any of which may beused in combination with one another or individually. FIG. 7 aillustrates a Twisted text recognition quiz. Referring to FIG. 7 a, asimple question is presented in text that is twisted (i.e., displayed ina non-linear fashion) to make optical character recognition (OCR)difficult, while still remaining easily readable to a human. In oneembodiment the user would answer the quiz 700 a by typing the answer tothe quiz 700 a in the space provided 701 a. The user would then hit theenter button on their keyboard. In alternate embodiments the user wouldchoose a user-selectable object with a mouse. In further alternateembodiments, the user would answer the question with a spoken responsethrough a microphone.

FIG. 7 b illustrates a word/image interpretation quiz 700 b. A user ispresented with a picture of a hand holding up one finger and asked “Howmany fingers?” The quiz in 700 b is also known as a simple word/objectidentification quiz. The name of an object or other word is spelled outin graphical text or a picture of an easily recognizable object isdisplayed, for example a dog, a book, a car, the word “Ice Cream”, etc.Users are asked to enter (e.g., in a text box) the name of the object inthe space provided, or, are asked to select the correct picture or wordmatching the object displayed. Users may also be asked to identify theone object that does not belong in a set of objects being displayed.Quiz 700 b may also be known as a number recognition quiz. The number701 b is presented graphically. The number can be generated randomly orfrom tables.

Other recognition examples include color recognition. A color ispresented and the user is asked to identify it. Shape recognition. Auser is asked to identify the shape presented (e.g., a triangle, asquare, etc.). Self-answering questions. Text or graphical questionsthat contain their own answer. Short question, short answer. The usersimply types the word presented in the image. Simple counting. A numberof similar object are displayed, such as 2 balls, 4 birds, 1 finger,etc. Users are asked to enter (e.g., in a text box) the number ofobjects being displayed, or are asked to select the picture, word ornumber matching the object displayed. Users may also be asked to selectthe set of pictures showing the same number of objects.

Simple computations. Using numbers or objects or a text description,users are asked to perform simple calculations such as 1+1, 2*2, “4divided by two”, “XXXX minus XX” (where X is an integer, etc.). Usersare asked to enter (e.g., in a text box) the correct answer to themathematical expression, or are asked to select the correct answerrepresented in a picture, word or number. Users may also be asked toselect the set of pictures showing the same mathematical results. Forexample, the question may display “2 cats+2 dogs” and the correct answermay be “2 cats+2 dogs”.

Simple queries (e.g., FIGS. 7 a-7 f). Users are asked simple questionsusing graphical text. Responses may be entered as text or selected by“clicking” (e.g., using a cursor control device such as a mouse) on theright area. Examples of questions that might be used are: “What day istoday?” (e.g., FIG. 7 d), “How old is a 2-year old baby?”, “What coloris red?”, “Is ice cream hot or cold?”, etc.

Awareness. Users are asked questions about the real world, e.g., “Whatday (month, year) is it?” Click on a Designated Object/Space. Users areasked to select a particular image (See e.g., FIGS. 7 c and 7 e).

In one exemplary embodiment, a user is asked to select an easilyrecognizable image from an array of less-distinct images. FIG. 7 fillustrates a quiz in which a user is asked to select a baby picturefrom an array of less-distinct images. In the quiz 700 f, a user isasked to click 701 f the baby picture 702 f. In one embodiment, acorrect response would require the user to position a mouse pointer overthe baby picture 702 f and click the baby picture 702 f.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, users may be quizzed withreduced frequency as they respond accurately and with increasingfrequency as they fail to respond accurately. For example, FIG. 8illustrates a process 800 wherein a new user starts (step 802) and ispresented with SmartQuizzes at various intervals (step 804). As eachquiz is taken (step 806) a determination is made as to whether the userpassed the test. If so (step 808), the interval is adjusted (step 810)until a maximum interval is reached. If the user fails a test, a retestmight be offered (step 812). Passing the retest also resets the testinginterval (step 814). Failing the retest (step 816) suspends the user'saccount for a designated time interval or causes some other penalty.

Search Engine

Some embodiments of the present invention include a search engine thatallows a user to search for merchant sites, links, ads and contentrelevant to their interests. Search results can be sorted according torelevance, reward value, popularity, and/or other criteria. Thefollowing describes the search process:

A user selects the search engine from a web site configured inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention and enters orselects the search keyword(s).

If the user is not logged in, he/she will be directed to the login/signup pages, but guests may still be permitted to use the system withoutlogging in (and without receiving the rewards offered to registeredusers).

If a user is not logged in, he/she will be able to perform searches, butwithout the benefit of receiving the rewards (e.g., for the release ofdemographic profile information) and without receiving search resultshaving a corresponding sorting. See, e.g., FIG. 13, which illustrates asearch result 1302 that might be returned after a conventional (i.e.,non-demographically sorted) search for travel sites.

Once registered (see, e.g., FIG. 14, which shows an example of aregistration sign-in screen 1402) and logged in, the user's usernameand/or account balance and/or demographic profile will appear either ina constant position of the window or by selecting a button or otherelement to provide the information in a pop up window (see, e.g., FIG.15 which illustrates an example of a user's account balance screen).

The user enters (e.g., via a text box) or selects the desiredinformation/category to search for.

The user is returned a list of links relevant to the user's searchcriteria (see FIG. 16, which illustrates an example of a search result1602 returned using the user's demographic profile information). Sitesoffering the highest reward value will be listed first in the searchresults (rather than say a raking determined according to, for example,the number of times a certain keyword is used as a metatag, etc.), suchrewards indicating the content provider's or advertiser's heightenedinterest in the user's demographic profile. This matchmaker functionmerges information about both parties, making a more efficient match forboth, allowing destination sites to only pay large rewards to targeted(i.e., desired) users and allowing users to easily identify sites whichdesire them (as well as those which do not). For example, in FIG. 16,Zoom travel, which targets young males, appears at the top of the listrather than the bottom, which would be the tyranny of a merealphabetical listing. AAAAA Travel, on the other hand, does not cater toyoung males and correspondingly appears with no reward; whereas a purelyalphabetical listing would have placed it at the top of the list,presenting a poor search result for a for a young male user.

A site may also choose to represent its URL link as an expanded textlink or a graphical banner, perhaps for a fee, when certain search-userdemographic criteria are met.

Search results may present the destination site names, descriptions,URLs, offered rewards, amounts bid, quality scores, popularity,relevance scores, or other data to assist the user in making his/herselection.

The list of relevant sites can be sorted in various manners. The list ofrelevant sites may be sorted by search relevance, popularity, rewardpotential, merchants bid, and merchant's quality score. Sorting bypopularity might include the number hits to that site. Sorting by rewardpotential may include reward potential to that specific user. Forexample, John Doe may get $0.10 for visiting a particular site becauseof his gender, while Jane Doe might only receive $0.05 for visiting thesame site. Sorting by merchant bid includes the amount bid for theposition in the returned list by the merchant.

Search results may be displayed as simple links, text descriptions orgraphics. Users may also be given various options for displaying thesearch results. Users may list only the top “n” items offering a reward.Users may list only items offering reward above a certain threshold.Users may list only items offering a reward. Users may list only rewarditems and top “n” non-rewarding items per search score or popularity.Users may list all matching entries, including items with no reward. Theuser can set a default sort order for future searches. An advertiser maysponsor the use of the search engine and give users a reward for eachsearch done with the sponsorship ad posted, up to a maximum cumulativereward set by the advertiser for a given time window. Sponsors may alsochoose how often the same user will be rewarded for repeatedinteraction.

User Rewards

Users earn rewards for desired activities. For example, users may berewarded for registering with the present service, providing referrals,contributing demographic attributes, performing searches, and/orclicking through on hyperlinks. Once earned, user rewards can beexercised in several different ways such as being exchanged for cashmailed by check, electronically credited to an account, online orphysical gift certificates, frequent flyer miles, charitablecontributions, contest entries, etc.

Trading Post

Once a user has accumulated earnings in his/her account, the earningscan be exchanged using one or more redemption options. For example, auser can allocate $30 of earnings into $10 of online gift certificates,$5 of contest entries and a $15 check. A user can also choose thatearnings be automatically allocated. For example, for every $20 a usermay direct $5 to that week's contest, and $15 to a cash check.

Sweepstakes

Some embodiments of the present invention may include a progressivejackpot sweepstakes. For every certain activity engaged in by users andproportional to the number of entries in the contest, an amount of cashis placed in a progressive jackpot, the amount to be visible to allusers.

A winner will be selected from among the entries and announced at aparticular day/time interval to encourage users to log on at thatspecified time interval. The winner will be notified when he/she logson. If the winner does not log on or claim the prize within apredetermined time interval of the announcement, a back up winner willbe announced, encouraging users to log on a second time, and so on. Anyprize award may be deposited into the user's account balance and can beallocated at the trading post.

Reading Ads

Ads may be displayed within a user's personal reward window as shown inFIG. 9. As shown, when rendered as a conventional banner ad 902, nobonus/reward information is displayed. Under the present scheme,however, banner ads may be rendered with the associated bonuscalculation displayed 904, with additional information in a pop-upwindow 906, or without any information regarding bonuses 908. Other adformats can also be used, e.g., splash screen ads, etc. When a userselects an ad, his/her account is credited with the correspondingreward. Limits can be set on rewards per user, or per ad, to discourageabuse.

If desired, some embodiments of the present invention can include apop-up window that appears when the user positions her/his cursor over aportion of the ad. Using Java™, JavaScript and/or other scriptinglanguages, the correct bonus and maximum bonus available may bedisplayed as a result of such cursor action. These bonuses reflect theavailable reward for providing the demographic and profile informationentered by a user.

Ads hosted on web sites including embodiments of the present invention.If a user is not yet signed up or logged on, he/she may be presentedwith a sign up or log-on page. The user searches through the sortedsearch engine results and views the resulting ads and links. Next toeach ad or link may be displayed the associated basic reward, the actualbonus reward, and the total potential bonus reward (see, e.g., FIG. 9).The user might not be shown ads for which the reward is zero due toeither an expired time window or repeat usage restriction. When a userselects a link or banner ad enabled according to the present inventionthe user is directed to the designated destination site. The user'saccount is credited with the available reward. The destination host'saccount is debited the amount of the user reward and the amount of thetransaction commission (if any).

Ads and links hosted remotely. Ads and links enabled by embodiments ofthe present invention can be posted on any web site. Enabled ads orlinks may either appear as conventional, non-enabled ads or asconventional links to non-users (i.e., individuals that are notregistered users of a service configured in accordance with the presentinvention). Users (i.e., those that are registered) should always bepresented with the enabled version of such ads or links. For example(and referring to FIG. 1), advertiser 106 a could host its own adsrather than storing them on the host 104. As such, the advertiser 106 amight provide both enabled and non-enabled versions of these ads. Usersof the host 104 who have logged in will automatically be shown theenabled ad.

This mechanism can also be used on web sites such as those of contentproviders 108 a-c to encourage deeper interaction by visitors. Forexample, a user can be rewarded to take a survey, provide feedback orregister for a product sample.

Consuming Content

Enabled content may be displayed with an access price. Selecting a linkassociated with the content will cause the content to be delivered tothe user or cause the user to be direct to a web site at which thecontent is available and credit/debit her/his account accordingly. Theuser may access such content from links returned by the search engineprovided by some embodiments of the present invention or from thecontent provider's site, etc. The price of the content may be listednext to the link (see, e.g., FIG. 10). As shown, content prices may bedisplayed as part of a web page 1002 or in association with banner adsand the like 1004. Content providers may also bundle rewards for usersto encourage their target customers to visit the content site. Forexample, different prices for the content may be set for in state vs.out-of-state residents, etc.

When a user clicks on a for-fee content link: Verification is performedto ensure that the user has sufficient credits in his/her account. Ifthere is not a sufficient balance in the user's account, the user isadvised of this fact and can be directed to an ad farm (e.g., a site atwhich a user can view multiple advertisements) to earn additionalcredit. If sufficient credit is available, the user is directed to thecontent site. The user's account is debited the content price. Thecontent provider's account is credited the content price less atransaction commission if appropriate. In some embodiments, it is up tothe content provider to define and set up the access control mechanismfor their content. These content providers can define how often a usercan access content that is paid for. For example, a cookie may be placedon the user's computer or web-access device recording that they havepaid for access to the content site. Content providers can allowrepeated access for a specified period of time and customize their sitefor paying return visitors.

Bonus and Research

Each ad, link or search result can calculate a bonus for a specific userbased on that user's demographic profile and the ad's or link's desiredtarget. In addition to simply qualifying users as members of ademographic group, advertisers can thus pay users in exchange for theirspecific profile information to do research.

In such a scheme, next to each ad, link or search result, the basereward may be listed along with the potential bonus and the actualbonus. The base reward is what is given to any unqualified visitor. Thepotential bonus reward is the total reward possible if a user meets allof an advertiser's demographic target criteria. The actual bonus is thereward that a user will receive based on their actual demographicprofile. For example, out of a potential bonus of $1.00, a user mayreceive $0.50 because that user lives in San Jose (a desired demographicarea for the advertiser), but not the additional $0.50 because the useris not male (the desired gender demographic of this advertiser).

By selecting a link associated with the potential bonus, the user cansee the association between demographic information and rewards for aspecific ad. If the user has not provided all of the desired demographicinformation, he/she may return to his profile and add the desiredinformation in order to receive the additional bonus. For example, aparticular user might not have originally submitted gender informationwith the user's profile, but over time the user might notice that adsgive a higher reward for gender information. The user might thereafteradd her/his gender information to her/his profile and from then on isentitled to receive the gender “bonus” when her/his gender fits thedesired demographic profile for an ad/link, etc.

Demographic information can be held within a secure server and nottransmitted across the network 102. Advertisers may, or may not beprovided with a user's demographic profile immediately, and may onlyreceive information indicating that the user satisfied the bonuscriteria and qualified. When the user views a bonus ad the user'sdemographic information is compared to the ad bonus criteria and thebonus is calculated either at the host or at the user's client. When theuser selects a bonus ad, the user is sent to the destination site. Theuser's account is credited with the base and bonus award. Theadvertiser's account is debited the same amount, plus a transactioncommission if appropriate.

If an advertiser and/or researcher wants to collect actual demographicinformation on users (in addition to demographic qualification), and theuser agrees, actual profile information requested, and approved by theuser, can be stored in the advertiser's reports for later access. Seealso FIG. 6 for an example of a user profile matrix 600 that may bedisplayed to a user and which shows available reward points andconfiguration options associated with various user profile information.

Advertiser Registration

Advertisers can provide ads by creating an account with the host 104. Anadvertiser might typically provide a destination URL, a banner link, ademographic target, a reward structure (e.g., indicating the reward tobe paid for specified demographic information, the portion of same to bepassed on to the user, etc.), a working balance, and/or otherinformation.

The following process is an example of how the advertiser may createsuch an account. Advertiser Selects Signup on Host. Advertisers can openan account by providing a banner image link, site description, adestination location, a desired reward rate and contact information. Thead can be activated when the advertiser deposits money (or an equivalentthereof, e.g., credit information) in their account to pay users. Whenan advertiser's account balance reaches zero, the ad can be withheldfrom display to users, or the ad may be displayed with no reward beingoffered to the users. Base rewards for non-qualified users can be set. Areward matrix 2102 listing one or more desired attributes can becompleted (see, e.g., FIGS. 21A and 21B) for keywords, demographicattributes, if the user is a known customer of that merchant, and theamount of the bid to be passed through to the user as a reward.

Bonus rewards may be set up by the advertiser using bonus criteria,involving their desired reward for each piece of profile information(see, e.g., FIG. 5, which illustrates a user configuration matrix 500,e.g., a screen display that can be presented to the user, to becompleted during the registration process and allows for attributes suchas user name, age, gender, data of birth, zip code and/or householdincome to be specified and designated as being available for submissionto advertisers, etc. automatically or not). Merchants and advertiserscan choose the amount of reward to pass-though to the user.

Advertisers may set the reward for targeted users by completing ann-dimensional full factorial demographic reward matrix (see, e.g., FIG.18, which shows an example of a reward matrix 1802).

Time caps may be set by the advertiser for the desired time which mustelapse before a specific user can earn rewards from the same ad or linkagain. A number of allowed repeat visits by a user can be set.

An advertiser can set a cumulative reward cap per timeframe, e.g. $1,000per 24 hours. An advertiser can set a cumulative reward cap per user,e.g. $20 per user per lifetime of ad. Rewards for repeat visitors can beset by an advertiser to stay the same, decrease or increase, e.g., $0.10for a first visit, $0.05 for a second and subsequent visit, etc. Rewardscan be varied over time. For example, an advertiser may offer a higherreward during lunchtime than in the late evening. Or, the advertiser mayreduce the reward as his/her credit balance runs low to increase thelength of time of the advertising campaign. Or, the advertiser mayincrease the available reward if an ad is not attracting enoughattention from users.

Keywords for ads (e.g., to be used by the search engine) can be set byan advertiser. Each ad may be assigned an identifier for reference.Advertisers can monitor ad activity over the network 102. Reports may begenerated with a timestamp for transactions, amount awarded,commissions, total debit, and resulting account balances.

Advertisers can use network-based tools for evaluating campaign activitywith respect to demographics, activity over time, responses to rewardchanges and demographic targeting and data collection.

Credit can be added to an ad account at any time. When a campaign iscompleted, all unused account balances can be returned to theadvertiser.

Content Provider Registration

Content providers can begin earning money on their site by creating anaccount online, e.g., by providing the site URL, price, and type ofcharge (e.g., up front or gratuity). The content provider may theninsert a single line of HTML code to enable the earning process. Thisprocedure may, in one example, be described as follows:

Initially, a content provider will register or sign up at host 104 withthe service provider offering the present scheme. Content providers cancreate a content account at host 104 by providing their content price,content link and choosing a means of account transfer and contactinformation. Available content fee collection methods include collectionof up front fees or collection of gratuities. With up front fees, thepayments are fixed. That is, a user wishing to access the content mustpay the set fee to be granted such access. A gratuity collection processallows users to pay voluntarily, without obstructing access to thecontent. Payment options for such tips can be customized as open,default suggested, check box selection, radio button selection, slidebar selection or fixed value options. This allows for great flexibilityin incorporating the tip-payment feature into the content provider's website.

Each content site URL can be assigned an identifier. Furthermore, thecontent provider can provide keywords (to be used by the search engine)for each content site. Once a content provider has registered, host 104may transmit a URL to the content provider for use as a content fee ortip link and any appropriate HTML, JavaScript or other code to embed inthe relevant web site to enable such operation.

Content providers can monitor their account activity over the network102. Reports can be generated with a timestamp for each transaction, theamount charged, and any commissions paid out/generated, net credit, andresulting account balances. These account balances can be transferred toany ordinary account such as a bank account or credit card account, orcash can be paid out as a check. Alternatively, the balance can becredited to a user account. The operator of host 104 may charge servicefees for these services.

Merchant (Advertiser and Content Provider) Quality Control

Merchants will preferably be validated on inspection before theiraccount is activated. In addition, members of the user community may beinvited to contribute their own evaluations of merchant quality on anongoing basis. To ensure the quality of user reviews, such a process maybe by invitation only. Alternatively, or in addition, users mayperiodically, at random or at an interval to be determined by amathematical or statistical algorithm, be invited to review sites thatthey have actually visited through the system and offered a reward forcompleting the review. Users may thus be presented with a short list ofweb sites that they have recently visited through the search engine andasked to provide feedback in exchange for a reward. The reward may beany combination of credits, cash, sweepstakes entries or any other formof remuneration acceptable to the user. The results of these reviews bythe user community may then be summarized into a numerical score, alsoknown as the merchant quality score. The higher the merchant qualityscore, the better the merchant's rating. This quality score may bedisplayed with search results to give users a better idea of thepopularity or level of satisfaction for a particular merchant web site.

Tipping

Content providers can enable tipping to collect voluntary fees ordonations from users. After providing the tip, the user can be sent to athank you page. FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate aspects of the tipping processin detail. Web page-based tipping provides a means for voluntarypayments, which can be used when a content provider wants to collectfees without erecting entry barriers for users. In such a scheme, a userviews content including a tip icon, a tip form, tip link, or some othermeans to be directed to a payment site, etc. To then provide a tip, theuser simply selects the icon, link, etc. and designates the appropriategratuity at the site to which he/she is then directed. If a user is notyet signed up or logged on, he/she may be presented with a sign up orlog-on page.

In accordance with the process shown in the diagrams, a process 1100begins with the user receiving an invitation to visit a content site(step 1102), for example via e-mail or while web surfing. After visitingthe site the user may decide whether he/she enjoyed the visit (step1104). If not, the user continues surfing in the conventional fashion(step 1106). However, if the user did enjoy the visit to the web siteand wants to express his/her appreciation to the content provider, theuser can select a link to a gratuity site if one is provided (steps 1108and 1110). At the gratuity site (or perhaps en route thereto), adetermination may be made as to whether the user is a registered user ofthe present service (step 1112). If not, the user is offered theopportunity to register (step 1114) and the user may accept or declinethe invitation (step 1116). If he/she declines, the user continuessurfing in the conventional fashion.

In the case where a user is already a registered user a determination ismade as to whether the user is presently logged on to the system (step1118). If not, the user is asked to sign in (step 1120). Ultimately, theuser is directed to the site at which he/she can leave a gratuity (step1122). While at the site, different procedures may be followed dependingon whether the site is a set gratuity or variable gratuity site (step1124). For variable gratuity sites, the user is provided with theopportunity to indicate the amount of the tip to be provided (step1126). In either case, the user enters the tip amount and may thenprovide comments (step 1128) to be provided to the content siteprovider. The tip authorization and the comments may be provided to thehost 104 (step 1130). In return, a “thank You” or similar message may beprovided to the user (step 1132) and the user may continue surfing (step1134).

At the payment site, a pop up window or other display feature (e.g., aseparate web site) may present the user with one or more possible tipoptions (suggested amount, blank window, selectable amount options,slide bar amount, radio button selected amount, or default amountoptions, etc.). FIG. 12 illustrates some of these options, such as aradio button 1202 which may be selected to direct the user to a sitewhere he/she might leave a gratuity and text boxes 1204 and 1206 wherethe user may enter a tip amount and any comments on the content orexperience provided by the web site. The pop up window may also providethe user with a text box to submit comments on the content.

When a user indicates a tip should be paid, host 104 may verify that theuser has sufficient balance in his/her account for the tip amountsubmitted. If there is not sufficient balance in the user's account, theuser may be advised of his/her balance with a link to view ads (e.g., toearn more reward points) and thereafter return to the tip window toleave the tip.

Once tipping is complete, the user can be automatically directed to thecontent provider's “Thank You” page, another selected page, and/or ageneric “Thank You” message can be displayed. At host 104, the user'saccount is debited the tip amount and the content provider's account iscredited the tip amount less a transaction commission, if appropriate. Acookie may be placed on the user's web browser recording that they havepaid for access to the content site. Content providers can thuscustomize their sites for paying return visitors. For example, returncustomers who have left tips in the past might get a special welcomingmessage and/or receive a special reward on a return visit.

An alternative process uses so-called “Email Tips”. In this scheme, atip URL can be transmitted in a text e-mail. Then, when the user selectson the URL, the tip functions the same as a web based tip.

Limiting Spam Through Quizzes

The quizzes described above can also be used in other environments. Forexample, a quiz can be embedded in a mail transport agent (MTA) or mailuser agent (MUA) to verify that senders are human to assist in filteringundesired or “spam” e-mails. The following process can be used. If emailis received from an unknown sender, e.g., by checking against a list ofknown senders, the MTA and/or the MUA may transmit a URL to site thatincludes a quiz, or include a quiz in a return e-mail to the unknownsender. This e-mail might notify the sender that his/her original e-mailwill not be opened or otherwise processed until the recipient thereofreceives some confirmation that the sender is a live person and not someautomated process. Hence, the e-mail might explain the purpose of thequiz and invite the sender of the original e-mail to “take the quiz”.

If the quiz is not answered correctly within a predetermined period,e.g., 24 hours, the original e-mail may be deleted or returned asundeliverable. By verifying that the sender is human, automated(so-called “spam”) e-mails can be filtered out. The user can also addthe sender of any spam messages to a list of known “spammers” so thatfuture quizzes can be avoided. Similarly, the user can add any mailinglists they participate in to a list that permits mails from that list topass through to the user's in-box.

The quizzes can be provided at a host, e.g., the host 104, for free orfor a small fee, e.g., $0.03 per quiz provided to unknown sender. Suchfees can be automatically deleted from the user's accounts. Further, thespam control feature can be offered completely separate and apart fromthe micro payment system, e.g., $10.00 (or some other flat fee) for ayear's worth of spam filtering using quizzes. Alternatively, thequizzing system can be integrated with the MTA and/or MUA on the user'spersonal computer. For example, the “sendmail” process, a common MTAknown in the art, could be programmed to check a sender against a user'sknown list. If the sender is absent from the known list, the sendmailprocess could queue the mail for delivery pending a response to ane-mailed picture containing a quiz generated by the MTA.

Technical Methods

The present system (see FIG. 19) is designed to solve several technicalproblems and includes a standard user interface 1902 that may make useof a conventional web browser, facilities to allow for minimizedtransactions costs, the ability to serve many users concurrently andsecure information transfer without high overhead costs. The interfaceto the user is conventional HTML and JavaScript, allowing users of thesystem to rely on conventional web browsers for access and operation.

All functions on the present system begin with the user enteringinformation into a conventional HTML form and submitting a conventionalHTTP request 1904 to the web host 104. The HTTP request may contain acall to the web server application 1906, which facilitates communicationbetween the HTML interface 1902, application business rules 1908 and anyback-end database server 1910. Because the request is to an overlyingapplication 1908 rather than to a database 1910 directly, systemefficiency and scalability are enhanced. The application 1908 cansecurely hold the database connections open, greatly reducing theoverhead on the server 1906 for each database query (alternativesolutions require a database open/close for each query).

The application program 1908 (which may or may not be accessed through amiddle layer Java Servlet 1912) discussed above may use programmedbusiness rules to determine what queries need to be sent to whichdatabases 1910 and may make database calls in a single block. Thislow-overhead process coupled with the ability to run multiple copies ofthe application program 1908 on the web server 1906 allow for manyconcurrent users. A multithreaded web server 1906 may balance requeststo each copy of the application program 1908. The application program1908 and database schema may be designed such that information aboutaccounts, reward calculations, etc. are stored in the database 1910 andverified from the database 1910. Unauthorized users and automated webbots thus cannot simply make up a URL and send it in to increase theiraccount balances. Once the application program 1908 processes a command,it builds and returns 1914 feedback to the users in HTML to the user'sbrowser.

Although the foregoing description and accompanying figures discuss andillustrate specific embodiments, it should be appreciated that thepresent invention is to be measured only in terms of the claims thatfollow.

1. A method for controlling advertisements directed at a usercomprising: setting by a host device a filter to control theadvertisements directed at the user, wherein said filter includesuser-established settings for a reward threshold; generating by the hostdevice an estimate of a number of advertisements that are expected to bereceived by a personal device of the user, the estimate based in part onthe reward threshold; providing the estimate to the personal device ofthe user; sending advertisements, based on the user-established settingsfor the reward threshold, to the personal device of the user, whereinthe reward threshold comprises a minimum level of reward such that onlyadvertisements with a reward above the minimum level of reward arereceived; receiving an indication of acceptance of the advertisements atthe personal device of the user; and providing the user with rewards foraccepting the advertisements.
 2. A method for controlling advertisementsof a third party directed at a user of a search engine comprising:permitting the user to login to an internet service; creating by thehost device a user profile containing filter criteria, wherein saidfilter criteria include user-established settings for a rewardthreshold; reading by the host device the filter criteria, including theuser-established settings for the reward threshold, from the userprofile; generating by the host device an estimate of a number of thirdparty advertisements that are expected to be received by a personaldevice of the user, the estimate based in part on the reward threshold;providing the estimate to the personal device of the user; providingthird party advertisements to the personal device of the user based onthe filter criteria and the user-established settings for the rewardthreshold, wherein the reward threshold comprises a minimum level ofreward such that only advertisements with a reward above the minimumlevel of reward are provided to the personal device of the user;determining if the user reviewed one or more of the third partyadvertisements; and providing the user with a reward consistent with theuser-established settings for the reward threshold if the user reviewedthe third party advertisements.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein theuser profile is created by a registered user.
 4. The method of claim 2wherein the filter criteria from the user profile comprises demographicprofile information about the user provided by the user.
 5. The methodof claim 4 wherein the demographic profile information comprises staticattributes.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the static attributescomprise gender, income, profession, and family status.
 7. The method ofclaim 4 wherein the demographic profile information comprises dynamicattributes.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the dynamic attributescomprise the user's location, local time, and local weather.
 9. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the dynamic attributes comprise whether theuser is on work or personal time.
 10. The method of claim 2 wherein thefilter criteria from the user profile comprise subjects of interest tothe user.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the subjects of interestare selected by the user from a list.
 12. The method of claim 10 whereinthe subjects of interest are entered directly by the user.
 13. Themethod of claim 2 wherein the reward comprises cash.
 14. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the reward comprises tokens redeemable for goods orservices.
 15. The method of claim 2 wherein the reward threshold isadjustable by the user based on a media in which each of theadvertisements is delivered.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein themedia comprises plain text, recorded voice, live voice, graphics,streaming video, and live video.
 17. The method of claim 2 wherein thereward threshold is adjustable by the user based on a length of each ofthe advertisements.
 18. The method of claim 1 wherein the rewardthreshold is adjustable by the user based on the personal devicereceiving the advertisements.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein thepersonal device is selected from the group consisting of a homecomputer, a pager, a PDA, and a telephone.
 20. The method of claim 2wherein the filter criteria from the user comprises a time of dayacceptable for sending advertisements to the user.
 21. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the filter criteria from the user comprises allowing theuser to provide a maximum number of advertisements allowed to be sent tosaid user within a designated time frame.
 22. The method of claim 21wherein the designated time frame comprises one day.
 23. The method ofclaim 21 wherein the designated time frame comprises one week.
 24. Themethod of claim 2 wherein the third party comprises a merchant.
 25. Themethod of claim 2 wherein providing third party advertisements to thepersonal device of the user based on the filter criteria comprisesdetermining what advertisements to send to the personal device of theuser.
 26. The method of claim 2 wherein providing third partyadvertisements to the personal device of the user based on the filtercriteria comprises determining when to send advertisements to thepersonal device of the user.
 27. The method of claim 2 wherein providingthird party advertisements to the personal device of the user based onthe filter criteria comprises determining a frequency acceptable to theuser for receiving advertisements.
 28. The method of claim 2 whereinproviding third party advertisements to the personal device of the usercomprises providing the user with a list of links in response to asearch criteria of the user where the links to sites offering a highestreward value will be listed first in the list of links.
 29. The methodof claim 2 wherein determining if the user reviewed one or more of thethird party advertisements comprises determining if the one or morethird party advertisements was displayed on the user's screen.
 30. Themethod of claim 2 wherein determining if the user reviewed one or moreof the third party advertisements comprises determining if the uservisited a third party's site.
 31. The method of claim 2 whereindetermining if the user reviewed one or more of the third partyadvertisements comprises determining if the one or more third partyadvertisements was read by the user.
 32. A method wherein users of asearch engine are selected to receive messages of a third partycomprising: retrieving user profiles, wherein said profiles includeuser-established settings for a reward threshold of corresponding users,each reward threshold comprising a minimum level of reward such thatonly messages with a reward above the minimum level of reward arereceived by a personal device of each corresponding user; comparing bythe host device individual ones of the user profiles with criteriadefined by the third party; generating by the host device an estimate ofa number of messages that are expected to be received by the personaldevice of each user, the estimate based in part on the reward thresholdof each user; providing corresponding ones of the estimates to thepersonal device of each user; and sending one or more messages to thepersonal device of each user whose profile matches the third party'scriteria.
 33. The method of claim 32 wherein said user profiles comprisea record of information for a specific user.
 34. The method of claim 33wherein the information comprises demographic profile information ofsaid specific user, wherein said information is provided by saidspecific user.
 35. The method of claim 33 wherein the informationcomprises subjects of interest to said specific user.
 36. The method ofclaim 33 wherein the information comprises a time of day acceptable forsending messages to said specific user.
 37. The method of claim 33wherein the information comprises a maximum number of messages within adesignated time frame which said specific user will accept from amerchant.
 38. The method of claim 32 wherein the messages compriseadvertising messages.
 39. The method of claim 32 wherein the third partyis a merchant.